Three-point safety belt devices are commonly employed on motor vehicle seats and serve for securing a motor vehicle occupant seated on the associated motor vehicle seat and, in particular, for the retention of the motor vehicle occupant in the case of a motor vehicle collision or sudden deceleration. Safety belts for the occupants of motor vehicles are nowadays regulated by law in almost all countries. These safety belts are supplied in mass production from most motor vehicle manufacturers as basic equipment of the motor vehicle.
In the construction of the different belt types (i.e., multipoint belts, such as for example two-point belts, three-point belts) hitherto a great deal of value was placed on the fastening of the belts and on the buckles for locking the belt after the securing procedure, as well as the tightening of the belt in the event of an imminent collision.
Self-retracting belts, i.e., seat belts which are rolled up into a belt magazine or tensioner driven in a spiral spring store and which when applied are pulled out of this belt magazine counter to the spring action of the spiral spring store, form part of the prior art. The belts permit a certain degree of mobility to the occupant who uses the safety belt since, although the belt bears against the body, it permits a movement of the secured person on the seat in a resiliently flexible manner.
In the event of sudden acceleration of the secured person, for example with sudden braking or an impact of the motor vehicle, the resilient flexibility of the belt is prevented by a device operating by the acceleration forces present, and the person is therefore protected from slipping out or striking the motor vehicle and/or the consequences of an impact are substantially reduced.
The type of seat belts set forth above, in particular so-called three-point belts which secure the secured person by two belt portions over the torso and pelvis, belong to the most popular and most used safety belt devices. In these three-point belts, the belt portion leading over the shoulder and torso of the secured occupant is guided out of the magazine along the bodywork of the motor vehicle via a deflection member which, in the secured position of the belt, permits the belt portion to pass diagonally over the torso of the relevant occupant.
The purpose of the deflection member is to ensure the low-friction guidance of the belt in order to ensure a correct reaction of the belt mechanism, i.e., to guarantee a blocking of the belt moving out of the belt magazine at the moment of sudden acceleration and in order to permit the belt to pass easily through the deflection member of the preferred three-point safety belt device with the greatest possible freedom of movement of the secured occupant. Moreover, the deflection member defines the uppermost position of the belt, wherein an adaptation of this position of the belt, for example, might be expedient at least in the case of a motor vehicle collision or shortly before a motor vehicle collision, or in the case of sudden acceleration (deceleration). Such a displacement is desired in order to prevent the belt portion from slipping off the shoulder but, in particular, in the case where the original position of the belt is not optimally adapted to the body size of the secured person because, for example, a height adjustment for the deflection member is not provided or the height adjustment which is present is not able to be set sufficiently low.
JP 2012-081913 discloses a motor vehicle comprising a three-point safety belt device which is assigned to a seat in the motor vehicle rear and which has a deflection member for a belt with a through-opening, wherein the through-opening defines two deflection edges for the deflection of the belt, the deflection edges being located at an angle to one another.
DE 101 60 293 B4 discloses a three-point safety belt device for a rear seat in which the belt is parked in a holder in the unused state.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,408,599 discloses a motor vehicle comprising a three-point safety belt device with a deflection member which is fastened to a B-pillar. The deflection member has a through-opening which defines two positions of the belt which are offset to one another in the longitudinal direction of the motor vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,721 discloses a motor vehicle with a three-point safety belt device which comprises a multipart belt system consisting of a lap belt and a belt for the torso and the shoulder. Instead of a deflection member a pivot arm fastening is provided of the belt guided over the torso and the shoulder.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,520,532 and 5,609,367 disclose a motor vehicle with a three-point safety belt device and an additional deflection member with a carabiner opening in order to be able to thread the belt portion, which is provided for crossing over the torso, through the additional deflection member and to achieve an adaptation of the belt path, if required. Such an additional deflection member disadvantageously increases the friction of the belt guidance within the meaning of the above descriptions.
It would be desirable to provide a motor vehicle comprising at least one multipoint safety belt device, preferably a three-point safety belt device, which is improved both with regard to comfort and also with regard to safety, and having a simple construction. Additionally, it would be desirable to specify an improved method for adapting the belt path.